Intermission 18: The musings of Lilian Reed.

“How are you doing?” Olivia asks her, sitting next to her on the sand as they look at the other groups having their swimming race.

“I’m fine. It’s not so bad.” Lilian tells her friend as she massages her own leg.

“You gave us a scare there.” Jessica comments.

“Sorry. But you know I’m a terrible swimmer. When I felt my leg cramp I panicked.”

“And of course the first one to help had to be him.” Olivia groans.

But right after she does, a rare triple sigh occurs.

It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating, because for him it was probably nothing. He just casually helped someone like he always does. But to Lilian… it’s yet another thing that shows her what Olivia and Jessica see in him.

And she’s starting to see it too.

She’ll still stand by her words. David is still not much more than a nice guy. But… when he’s being a nice guy towards HER… it makes her feel things.

He helped her when her leg cramped up in the water. Looking back, she panicked over something that wouldn’t have been so terrible if she’d remained calm. Besides, anyone could’ve helped her. But the fact that he did it, even after all the things she said to him…

“So… is this how you felt?” She asks Olivia.

“It’s stupid, right?” Olivia smiles wryly. “Like a clichéd romance movie.”

“And he does it over and over again.” Jessica says, puffing her cheeks and hugging her knees. “He always acts like we never did anything.”

“I guess it’s hard for a girl to resist a reliable guy like him.” Olivia sighs in frustration as she throws herself back on the sand. “But now that I think about it… he was always this reliable. Even when we threatened him to do our homework for us, he always made it in time.”

“And with enough time to still ace his own assignments, too.” Jessica giggles.

Lilian nods, silently agreeing. Fine, he’s a nice and reliable guy. But so what?

…He’s also really hot now. It’s like one of those stupid memes of “be careful who you call ugly in high school”, only this happened in a matter of months.

The guy not only changed his appearance, but he turned around everyone’s opinion about him. People saw him as an intruder, a pervert and a creeper. Now, even Lilian hears whispers of how good he looks, how smart he is or how kind he is to everyone.

It pisses her off because it really goes to show how shallow people can be. When you’re ugly and try to do or say something nice, you’re creepy. When you’re pretty and try to do the same, everyone is flattered.

She clicks her tongue. Those are not memories she wanted to dig up, but… She guesses his situation is the same as hers.

Lilian used to be fat and ugly. She was bullied all through middle school. It was Olivia who gave her the confidence to push herself to become what she wanted to be. Lilian wanted to be pretty, to be hot, to have men drooling for her and eating out of her palm. She wanted to be the envy of every girl. To be able to look down on those who looked down on her was her wish.

And she made it. Diets, exercise, nutritionist appointments. She slimmed down, improved her fashion sense, learned about makeup. In a little under a year, she became one of the hottest girls in school. She could lead on the guys who laughed at her and completely deny and embarrass them with little effort. Once she became pretty, everyone was willing to hear what she said.

But where she kept herself to her two most trusted friends, David started making connections. While she improved herself to take ****, David did for the sake of it and just let go.

With how many people seem to be on his side now, he could easily turn the school against them. But he hasn’t. And he won’t. Instead, he’s helping them study, offering to cook for them and saving their fucking lives.

“…So? Where do we go from here?” Lilian asks her friends.

“You too, huh?” Olivia chuckles.

“Just answer the damn question.” Lilian mutters, feeling her cheeks heating up.

“Well… I don’t really know.” Olivia’s smile fades as she looks up to the sky. “I’ve been working with my dad at the hotels, you’ve been working with your mom and Jessica’s been trying to get into acting. I’d say we’re making progress in the get-our-lives-in-order side of things.”

“Speak for yourself.” Jessica groans and hugs her legs even tighter.

“You’ll make it.” Lilian encourages.

“I know. I know. I just have to keep trying.” Jessica sighs.

“Anyway,” Olivia continues. “Before anything else, I think we should ask ourselves if we really want to act on…” Olivia coughs once to clear her throat. “…our feelings.”

“I know I want to.” Jessica nods.

“Me too.” Olivia nods with a resolute expression.

It doesn’t surprise Lilian to hear Olivia say that. She’s always been one to get what she wants, no matter the method. If she wants to get with David, she’ll do it. But what about Lilian? She doesn’t know if she feels as strongly for him as her friends do.

He’s hot, thoughtful and reliable. She… likes him. But when she compares herself to how strongly her friends feel for him…

After glancing at her thoughtful face, Olivia simply continues.

“Well, even if we know that, there’s still a bigger issue.”

“…Which is?”

“His other girlfriends.” Olivia says.

“Oh.”

At that, Jessica turns to their friend with narrowed eyes. “Please tell me you’re not planning on screwing with their relationship. Please.” She insists.

“…I admit, the thought crossed my mind. But it would be stupid to do it. If we tried anything with them, I doubt David would be as forgiving as when we messed with him.”

“Good.” Jessica nods firmly.

“So what we need to do is gain their trust.” Olivia bites her lip. “Somehow.”

“Are you sure whether David actually likes us or not isn’t a bigger issue?” Lilian asks.

“An issue, yes, but not a big one.” Olivia says casually. “I’ve noticed how he looks at us. He likes us. Or at least, finds us attractive. I can at least be confident in that.”

That’s just like Olivia. Unlike Lilian, Olivia has always been drop dead gorgeous. On that front, at least, her self-esteem has always been high. Maybe a little too high, but whatever. If fact, unlike her and Jessica, the reason Olivia was bullied in middle school was outright jealousy. She was pretty, had all the money she needed and was very popular. A group of girls didn’t like that and set out to make her life impossible.

“Yeah. I’ve caught him looking at my tits a few times.” Jessica giggles.

This causes Lilian to look at her friend’s chest, then to Olivia’s, and then down at her own. Then, she scowls.

“Unfair advantage.” She mutters.

“You’re not that much smaller than Emily or Megan.” Jessica points out.

“Still an unfair advantage.” Lilian reaffirms.

“But like I said,” Olivia continues. “It’s the other girls we have to win over. They resent us more than David does for what we did to him.” She then grimaces and bites her lip. “Katherine even more so.”

“…” A small silence. They all remember having done awful stuff to the redhead as well.

“She’s been talking to us, though.” Jessica offers. “She even helped us study.”

“Probably David’s influence, but progress is progress.” Olivia sighs. She then keeps quiet as she looks up to the sky.

“What are you thinking about?” Lilian asks

“There’s… something we could take advantage of.” Her friend answers, though she has a complicated expression on her face.

“Please tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.” Jessica pleads.

“I don’t mean to threaten him!” Olivia quickly clarifies. “I just think that we could… casually use that information to our advantage.” Even though she says that, the way she’s biting her lip easily shows she’s hesitating.

“Please don’t.” Jessica says, furrowing her brow. “Not only would we risk him getting mad at us, but we’d also be throwing away all the progress we’ve made.”

“…Alright! Fine! Forget I said anything!”

The exchange makes Lilian smile. Jessica has become for forward with Olivia lately. She used to just go along with whatever she said. Now she argues back. And Olivia is more willing to take a step back than anyone would believe. Lilian knows Olivia is also happy to see that their friend is becoming more determined.

They really are changing, aren’t they?

Lilian wonders if she’s changing as well.